Overwhelmingly Conquer (Romans 8:37)

Introduction

I don’t believe we could have sung a better sentiment to go with the lesson than here in the power of Christ I stand. I hope you can sing that with all confidence that is true of your circumstances, and this lesson will lead us in that direction. I get the privilege this morning of talking about an old testament story that is epic. All of our little ones know the story. It’s fascinating, incredible. But it is not just a story for our kids. I’m going to assume some familiarity this morning with the story of David and Goliath. There was a little boy David down by the babbling brook. Kids, you know that one. That’s a good one, isn’t it? For forty days, there is a standoff. A one on one confrontation is proposed.

Our great warrior against your great warrior. And standing in front of the Ballisting army is a giant of a man. Expertly trained in war. And for forty days he defies the ranks of Israel. Send out a man. Send the best you got. Let’s fight. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then I will become your servants. And if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us. Tragedy in the story. Saul and all Israel were dismayed and greatly afraid. Not a single warrior, not even David’s three older brothers, Eliab, Abinadab, and Shaman would accept the challenge to meet Goliath on the battlefield. David is sent down to the battle lines to check on the welfare of his brothers, brings food, and hears the taunts of the Philistine giant.

And he’s not put off. In fact, he inquires further, and his older brother Eliad suggests that this is out of the insolence of David’s heart. But David is brought before Saul. And he says, Let no man’s heart fail on account of him.

He is not deterred by Saul’s lack of confidence. You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, verse 33. You are but a youth. But David says to Saul, the Lord delivered me from the lion and the bear. He has a past where God has been with him. And so ultimately, as he rejects the armor of the king in a very political fashion, not wanting to hurt the king’s feelings. I’ve not tried these out. He takes his sling and a few stones and confronts the giant Goliath. And Goliath makes a fatal error that so many make.

But David says, I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, whose armies you taunt, and this day the Lord will deliver you into my hands. He believes strongly that God is with him. And then I like the expression of verse 48. I have it underlined in my Bible where it says, Then it happened. When the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine and put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead, so that this giant of a man fell on his face to the ground. Down he goes.

Miniature earthquake. As the body hit the ground. Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him. And there was no sword in David’s hand. This was a victory brought about by the Lord, as he had said it would be.

1. The Typical Instruction: Imitate David's Example

Ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. So much could be said about the events of 1 Samuel 17. But I want to start this morning with what I’m going to call the typical instruction. What are some things you’ve heard in application of the story of David and Goliath and the exploits of this man of faith in the Old Testament? We often talk about how we should emulate or imitate David’s example. We need to be people of conviction like he was, and people of confidence, and people of courage. If only we could summon these qualities as we face the adversary in our lives.

I would make this observation about being like David in this regard. Summoning these qualities when you need them spiritually, and you do. Courage, confidence, conviction. Summoning these qualities do not happen magically without any effort or preparation. David had been holding these qualities for years as he spoke of his previous battles with the lion and the bear. This kind of confidence in God and conviction that God was going to lead him into victory, this kind of courage that he would confront such a massive man when no one else would, these qualities were not cultivated in a moment. They were not cultivated without great effort and practice and patience and tenacity. To name a few things. They were nurtured. They were the result of much reflection and meditation.

2. Spiritual Warfare Against a Formidable Foe

Now, obviously, what we do is I talk about the typical things we do with this text. We apply, since none of us will likely walk out these doors and meet a nearly ten-foot man who is opposed to God and have to slay him on the streets of Tombal. Since that’s not a very practical application of the story of David and Goliath. And if that does happen this afternoon, we’ll have a lot to talk about tonight. But since I’m not expecting that to happen, we often move from this physical battle to a spiritual application. Spiritual warfare.

Unless you’ve seen death on a battlefield. Or perhaps because Hollywood is getting so proficient at depicting such warfare. Still hard for me to watch. Men blown away in battle. How many countless lives have been lost on similar battlefields? Fighting for a cause. I think sometimes when we talk about spiritual warfare, it’s a little bit lost on us. We have quite an adversary, a formidable foe. And the nature of this spiritual warfare is that he wants to destroy you. He wants to destroy your confidence and your conviction and your courage in doing God’s will in your life. He wants to discourage you from monitoring your speech and corralling that. He wants to discourage you from being pure. He wants to foster your lust, inordin desire for things that are less than holy.

And he’s always about that. He wants to destroy fidelity in our marriages. He wants to destroy unity in the body of Christ. And the list goes on. He will fulment division and discord and unbrotherliness wherever he can. We have a very real adversary who is trying to derail us through easy access to sin. Sometimes it’s just to click away. And the gratification of selfish desires. Overcoming and winning. Let’s warrior up. Overcoming and winning in this warfare will require tenacity. And preparation. As the psalmist said in Psalm 119, your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. Flee you belus. Identify yourselves with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. It’s the gist of 2 Timothy 2 22 and 23.

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. Colossians 3 and verse 16. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, 2 Corinthians 10, but mighty to God, to the destruction of fortresses. We are sufficiently equipped to handle anything our adversary throws at us, every God opposed thought and objection that is raised to the great reality of our God and his truth. As we have sought.

3. We Are Not Like David

Something that might even be shocking to you when I say it. We are not like David. I am not like David. I wish I was. How many warriors of faith did not go up against the Philistine giant? Do you think all of them were faithless men? Seriously. If you had been one of Israel’s warriors that day, would you have been the one that said, I will fight? We would like to think so. But likely all of us would not. I’m not sure that I would. How many of us would have been hiding in the tent? And I would just make the observation that sometimes there’s too much standing on the sidelines among the people of God. Somebody else will do the hard work that needs to be done.

Somebody else will confront the erring brother. Somebody else will rescue the sinner. Somebody else will lead the way. We need more individuals like David.

Like Isaiah. Hear my Lord. Send me. We need more saints who will prioritize spiritual things to first place in their hearts and in their lives. We need more saints living in view of heaven rather than the next earthly thrill. We need more saints who need less codley and who possess more courage, conviction, and confidence on the battlefield. Folks who aren’t content with who they’ve been for the last 15 to 20 years, but who will continue to grow and change and mold themselves even more into the likeness of Christ.

4. Jesus Conquered Goliath for Us

How much I either am or am not like David. But there’s another part of this. In some ways, as we make the spiritual applications of the story of David and Goliath, we can’t be like that. Because this story anticipates an adversary that all of us have had that we could not conquer. It’s the adversary Jesus conquered for us. The problem of sin. Reenvision the Goliath event of 1 Samuel 17. What happens when David walks out on the battlefield and slays the giant? What happens next? All of a sudden, the army is energized. All of a sudden, they bolt into action. They have a leader. They’re going to follow David. They’re going to fight alongside David. They are inspired by David’s heroics. That’s exactly what Jesus does for us.

He took out Goliath. He took out our problem of sin for us. And that is designed to inspire us to follow him, to fight alongside him and be inspired by the one who took out something even greater than the giant Goliath for us. So as we think more about the story of David and Goliath, may we be inspired to follow after Jesus, our great warrior, a king, to fight for him, to be fueled by what he has done for us. Sometimes I forget about what Paul says in Romans chapter one and verse 14 as he spoke of his role as an apostle, as a preacher of the gospel. He says, I am a debtor to preach the gospel. Folks, that’s the very reason. That is the very verse that motivated me to make the decision as a career choice to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ 33 years ago.

It was that verse. And yet sometimes I forget. We are all debtors. We do this not out of a sense of duty or obligation. We do this because we are debtors. To him who took out the giant for us. And it should prompt valiant attempts. Valiant at thinking holy thoughts. Prioritizing worship. Interaction with his people. Regardless of what sacrifice is required. Acts of loving servants for the benefit of others. Jesus conquered Goliath for us.

We owe it. Period.

5. We Overwhelmingly Conquer Through Him

And that leads me to these concluding thoughts. It’s a great verse. In Romans chapter 8 that talks about victory in this great spiritual struggle. And it’s because of what Jesus did. It’s because of what he still does as he provides assistance. That Paul says, we are more than conquerors, the King James Version says. We overwhelmingly conquer. We don’t just conquer, we overwhelmingly conquer. Over some very formidable things. Tribulation and distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril and sword. You talk about the most extreme kinds of things. There’s not anything that we can’t conquer and overcome because of what Jesus did for us. We overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. And not even such powerful things as death or life, even the spirit realm, angels and principalities, not even things in the past or the future, or things present, not powers, not height, not death, nor any created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.

That’s right. Our Lord. Israel had David. And that was awesome. While it lasted. We have Jesus.

And that’s awesome because it will last till the end of time. And beyond. We have a great king. And if you will align yourself with him, you can overwhelmingly conquer. He fought the battle we could not win. And now we can win and reign with him. But let me tell you where a lot of folks are. Perhaps some even here today. But certainly most of the people of our time and culture. They don’t overwhelmingly conquer. Because they think they don’t need it. They are self-sufficient. Self-reliant. Feeling nearly invincible. Impervious. I like that word. Impervious to greater forces than themselves. And I want to tell you that is an illusion. And a very temporary one at that. Self reliance can only get you so far and not very far.

Self-sufficient. I don’t need anyone or anything. I can do it all myself. Good luck with that. As time goes on. This is an illusion. When you’re young, you feel strong and energetic and vital. When you get my age, you got none of that.

Even less.

Conclusion

If you haven’t allowed Jesus to deal with the problem of sin in your life, it will be your undoing.

You may feel great in it right now. Passing pleasures of sin. You may not want to part with it. You think it’s so wonderful. I’m not going to give that up. I want to do it too badly. There’s fun to be had. It will be your undoing. It is the Goliath that you can’t conquer without Jesus.

Jesus lives. He reigns. Provides your need. Have you embraced what he so graciously offers? With his promise not only of forgiveness, he who believes and is baptized shall be saved. But his promise of help and assistance. He is able to save forever those who draw near to him. He ever lives to make intercession for us. He comes to the aid of the tempted. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And you need him right here. Right now. Let’s stand and say.